Sealing up the CGSP

I came across some stove gasket and cement real cheap so thought what the hell. Also had found some fireplace sealant. So the wrenches came out and i went into disassemble mode.

While the lid was off the bottom half got a good scraping as did the lid. I didn't know anything about creosote till i joined this site so there was three years of gunk in there.

Work in progress

Sealant around exhaust while i was in there

The finished lid

Fire box sealing

Think it worked pretty good, was trying to get pics of the smoke and this was the best i could get. Anyone who has one of these knows just how well the leak!! I still have to plug the extra holes and relocate the therm to nearer the grate. For testing i was using my digi therm on the grate.
I fired it up to cure all the sealant and cement. All i had was a 1/4 bag of lump so i filled the chimney and the rest went in the basket. Once coals were dumped in the temp hit 250 in around 20 min. I threw in a chunk of ash to get some smoke going, closed up the vent on the firebox and let it go. It held 260 at the grate for two hours. At this point the vent was opened 1/2 way and it went for another hour at around 250. Was no smoke leaking from front or back. The ends leaked near the front corners some but leakage was definitely reduced. Next project is to clean up the grates more then re-season.
Last night of bowling league is this week so i'm thinking having the guys over here sometime soon after for brisket, butts and maybe Dutch's beans!!

Thanks for the info! I will deffinately have to do that to my CGSP. I noticed in one of your pics you have a brick or paving stone holding the lid down on the fire box. I chuckled a bit at first because I do the same thing. But that brings me to my next question. Would there be a way to seal that as well? I haven't thought of anything yet but I know some of you may come up with an idea or two.

Vegan , yeah the brick works pretty good, although have to remember to put on gloves before taking it off. Done that once .. ouch !!!! If i don't use the brick then i get too much draft through there and my chunks/chips flare up real quick. I'm still thinking about how to seal that lid.

D-Man, I did need both packs. One 84" length done two sides and the back. One thing i might do different is find something else for the front edge. Inside the lid at the front there is that lip, i put the rope on that. With the thickness of the gasket it holds the front corners up a little. Which is why it leaks from there still. It's a small thing but it bugs me just a little .

The firebox/oven joint is an easy one to do. Although would of been, errrm less messy with someone to help hold the sfb while i got a couple of bolts in .

Outside temp was around 45f with maybe a light breeze when i done the first cure. Previously i'd get 3 hours out of half a bag of lump using the minion method. I got at least 2 1/2 hours from a 1/4 bag so i'm hoping for a similar saving on fuel.

Now not sure if it would make a difference but i didn't have any heat shield in at all. I've been using an oven liner for a while to get around the hotspot by the sfb. If i get around to cleaning and reseasoning the grates this weekend i'll put the shield back and try again.

Got home tonight, lifted the lid to check if things were all still in place ...... the gasket fell off the front lip. Thinking about it now this was the only part i didn't run the wire brush over. It got a good scraping and looked clean, maybe was paint, maybe some residual grease. Oh well, I wasn't 100% happy with the front seal and was wanting to redo it differently anyway .

Just a thought for the front lip on lid, they make a flat rope gasket.... We use it at work on our boilers..............Also we use high temp RTV sealant to mount it.......I have been thinking of doing the same thing to my new cgar-griller gas grill with sfb before I fire it up for the first time......I plugged all the extra holes with bolts and washers on the side on the main grill........As for my unit the sfb seems pretty tight to the grill so I am thing the flat rope gasket would work better for me........I just need to get some and do it............Just wanted to share some of my ideas with you hope they help...............

I used gasket rope all around the lid but i think my issue was the cement. It said it would stick to any metal, so maybe i didn't clean off the grease or paint good enough. It did rain pretty good for a efw days after this was done so maybe it's just not suitable for outside applications.

I did notice that with the gasket rope on the front lip is it raised the height enough that the front corners didn't sit all the way down.

Plan #2 - With the lid closed i'll to mark a line on the bottom half where the lid comes to. Then using existing bolt holes attach some 1" angle 3/8" below that line and stick the gasket to that with some rtv. This way the lid will be in it's natural closed postion and sitting on top of the gasket rope.

Here's my attempt at using a cad program to show the lip i want to make.

Haven't figured out how to mount the back side yet. I may just try using the rtv and stick it straight to the bottom half.

I just picked up some grapho glas today, and i just got done putting the gasket on.. But I took the same shortcut you did.

The instructions on mine says you have to be down to bare metal to get a good stick.

I didn't do that.. Like you, I just cleaned it up as good as I could. I didn't have any sandpaper.. or steel wool... or anything of the sorts.. and I was in a hurry to try this stuff out and heat cure it before it rains for the next couple of days.

I'm gonna let it dry for a bit and then try to pull it off. I'm guessing I'll have the same results as you. if that's the case.. it'll be back to the hardware store for some good ol fashioned sandpaper... or maybe a steel file to get it down to bare metal.

I used a wire brush on a drill which done an Ok job(obviously not good enuf ) . Also i've had mine for three years and have put quite a lot of food through it. Wondering if grease may of played a part.

I'm tempted to try out the high temp rtv option next. Will let you know how it all works out.

I think you are on the right track here. While you would still need some kind of high temp adhesive to hold the gasket, it wouldn't have the same requirements as mounting to the lid; meaning, if the glue doesn't hold, you can still operate the smoker. You just might have to reposition the gasket each time you open. Like someone above mentioned, a flat rope gasket would work well in this application.

If you have a welding buddy, welding the angle iron in place would be better than bolting.

Nice stab. Keep it up (in other words: you do all the hard work and let us other CG owners what finally works! )

teeotee, Been watching to see your next step.Liking your lip mod idea. also been Thinking of giving it a try when I get some time. I dont weld either, but thought Some stainless steel poprivits might work pretty well, be more attractive and less likely to cause an obstruction. Also thought that the gasket could be riveted to the lid or lip in a few spots to keep a good grip. what you think???

The rivet idea did cross my mind for the seal on the back edge. I'm really leaning toward the lip idea. Mainly because when i put the gasket on the lid it lifted the front edge up enough that the first few inches on either side didn't come down to the meet the bottom half.

Kookie also mentioned about using some rtv sealant. I've looked up that stuff and it is good to 600f and can take grease and oil and probably a better choice for outdoors.

Bear with me on this project ..........it seems like recently i've been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest.
Whenever i do get some spare time it will be the first thing on my list .